You have the ability, right now, to write and publish a book on a subject that is important to you. Like riding a bicycle, learning how to write a book is a skill that you can master with practice and repetition.
According to USA Today, 82% of adults dream of writing a book someday, either to express a heart-felt concern about a subject, or to earn a living, and even become successful.
Many books are written by people who are not particularly good at writing. Instead, they hire a “writer-for-hire” who interviews them, takes notes on their ideas and insights, and then works it into a book which they go on to publish under their own name.
Many of the best selling books on the New York Times lists were not written by the person whose name appears on the cover. They were written by other writers.
There are more than 200,000 books published each year and yours can be one of them.
The key to writing a book is to “Just Write!” Writing is one thing that you cannot get worse at by doing it.
Albert Hubbard, one of the most prolific writers in American history was once asked the key to successful writing. He replied, “The only way to learn to write is to write and write and write and write, and write and write and write.”
My own story might be instructive. I did not graduate from high school, and I failed high school English. I fantasized about writing a book for many years before I decided to “Just write!”
In 1981, I began giving talks and seminars to ever larger groups. To speak effectively, I had to do hundreds of hours of research, and read hundreds of books over the years. To keep current, I read dozens of magazines and thousands of articles. I’d read many of them several times.
When I developed my one-to-three day seminars, I would structure the materials so that the seminar started strong, in the first session, and then developed progressively, step-by-step through to the last session, where it ended on a strong, positive note.
When I began to write books, I used the same structure. I learned later that this is a powerful formula for successful books. Start with a strong chapter that gives a lot of value and benefits to the reader, develop the subject throughout the book, and end with a strong chapter that summarizes and emphasizes the main points. It is a simple formula, but it works, over and over.
George Bernard Shaw, who became the most famous “Man of letters” in England, winning countless awards and becoming extremely wealthy, started writing at the age of twenty. But he did not sell his first work until he was 42. For twenty-two years, he kept his job and slaved away in the evenings. When he finally began selling his works, he went on to become famous world-wide.
Harold Robbins wrote for many years before his book, “The Carpet Baggers” became a best seller, and then triggered best selling status among all his previous books.
Getting Published
Every publishing house, large or small, is bombarded all day every day with would-be authors, striving to get the publisher to look at their manuscript.
If you go on to the website of any publishers, you will see written in big letters the instruction, “Do not mail manuscripts to our offices!”
They will not acknowledge the manuscripts, keep them, or send them back.
They will all be thrown in the trash upon arrival.
For this reason, to publish a book, you must find a literary agent. Only a literary agent can get in the door of the publisher and get a hearing. But getting a literary agent is very difficult. I have known authors who have worked for years to finally find a literary agent that was able to get them published.
To find a literary agent, go to Amazon.com and buy the books “Jeff Herman’s Guide to Book Publishers,” by Jeff Herman. Purchase “Guide to Literary Agents” by Chuck Sanbuchino. When you look through these books, seek a literary agent who represents the kind of book that you are writing. Literary agents usually specialize in some category whether it is romance, detective, adventure, self-help, technical, business or something else.
Another way to find a literary agent is to go to your local bookstore and open the books in the area in which you intend to write. At the front of each of these books, in the “Acknowledgements” section you will find the name of the literary agent who the author is thanking for his/her help. Write down that agents name, go onto the internet, and find out how to contact that person.
The key to getting a hearing with a literary agent, and then later with a publisher, is the book proposal. Each book proposal must contain the title of the book, an outline of the subject, a table of contents or chapter titles, and the first and second chapters that give the literary agent and/or the publisher a flavor for the quality of your writing.
Get the book, “Write the Perfect Book Proposal” by Jeff Herman, or “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Getting Published.” By Sheree Buykovosky. These books will save you months and years of hard work in trying to figure out what you need to do by yourself.
To write well in any subject, you should read books on how to write well. My favorite is “On Writing Well” by William Zinnser. I also like “A Writers Time” by Kenneth Atchity. In any case, visit your local bookstore and go to the section that is full of books on how to write books written by people who have spent decades in the trade.
Finally, before you write your first book, you should purchase, “The Elements of Style” by Strunk and White. This is the gospel of good writing. It only takes an hour to read and contains about 100 one-liners that will open your mind and dramatically improve the quality of your writing.
The most important quality that you need for success as a writer, after genuine writing ability on a subject that is of interest to a large number of people, is persistence. You must be prepared to write and write and write and write, and write and write and write.
If you persist long enough and hard enough, you will eventually become a published author, and you may become one of the great writers of your generation.
Good luck!
According to USA Today, 82% of adults dream of writing a book someday, either to express a heart-felt concern about a subject, or to earn a living, and even become successful.
Many books are written by people who are not particularly good at writing. Instead, they hire a “writer-for-hire” who interviews them, takes notes on their ideas and insights, and then works it into a book which they go on to publish under their own name.
Many of the best selling books on the New York Times lists were not written by the person whose name appears on the cover. They were written by other writers.
There are more than 200,000 books published each year and yours can be one of them.
The key to writing a book is to “Just Write!” Writing is one thing that you cannot get worse at by doing it.
Albert Hubbard, one of the most prolific writers in American history was once asked the key to successful writing. He replied, “The only way to learn to write is to write and write and write and write, and write and write and write.”
My own story might be instructive. I did not graduate from high school, and I failed high school English. I fantasized about writing a book for many years before I decided to “Just write!”
In 1981, I began giving talks and seminars to ever larger groups. To speak effectively, I had to do hundreds of hours of research, and read hundreds of books over the years. To keep current, I read dozens of magazines and thousands of articles. I’d read many of them several times.
When I developed my one-to-three day seminars, I would structure the materials so that the seminar started strong, in the first session, and then developed progressively, step-by-step through to the last session, where it ended on a strong, positive note.
When I began to write books, I used the same structure. I learned later that this is a powerful formula for successful books. Start with a strong chapter that gives a lot of value and benefits to the reader, develop the subject throughout the book, and end with a strong chapter that summarizes and emphasizes the main points. It is a simple formula, but it works, over and over.
George Bernard Shaw, who became the most famous “Man of letters” in England, winning countless awards and becoming extremely wealthy, started writing at the age of twenty. But he did not sell his first work until he was 42. For twenty-two years, he kept his job and slaved away in the evenings. When he finally began selling his works, he went on to become famous world-wide.
Harold Robbins wrote for many years before his book, “The Carpet Baggers” became a best seller, and then triggered best selling status among all his previous books.
Getting Published
Every publishing house, large or small, is bombarded all day every day with would-be authors, striving to get the publisher to look at their manuscript.
If you go on to the website of any publishers, you will see written in big letters the instruction, “Do not mail manuscripts to our offices!”
They will not acknowledge the manuscripts, keep them, or send them back.
They will all be thrown in the trash upon arrival.
For this reason, to publish a book, you must find a literary agent. Only a literary agent can get in the door of the publisher and get a hearing. But getting a literary agent is very difficult. I have known authors who have worked for years to finally find a literary agent that was able to get them published.
To find a literary agent, go to Amazon.com and buy the books “Jeff Herman’s Guide to Book Publishers,” by Jeff Herman. Purchase “Guide to Literary Agents” by Chuck Sanbuchino. When you look through these books, seek a literary agent who represents the kind of book that you are writing. Literary agents usually specialize in some category whether it is romance, detective, adventure, self-help, technical, business or something else.
Another way to find a literary agent is to go to your local bookstore and open the books in the area in which you intend to write. At the front of each of these books, in the “Acknowledgements” section you will find the name of the literary agent who the author is thanking for his/her help. Write down that agents name, go onto the internet, and find out how to contact that person.
The key to getting a hearing with a literary agent, and then later with a publisher, is the book proposal. Each book proposal must contain the title of the book, an outline of the subject, a table of contents or chapter titles, and the first and second chapters that give the literary agent and/or the publisher a flavor for the quality of your writing.
Get the book, “Write the Perfect Book Proposal” by Jeff Herman, or “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Getting Published.” By Sheree Buykovosky. These books will save you months and years of hard work in trying to figure out what you need to do by yourself.
To write well in any subject, you should read books on how to write well. My favorite is “On Writing Well” by William Zinnser. I also like “A Writers Time” by Kenneth Atchity. In any case, visit your local bookstore and go to the section that is full of books on how to write books written by people who have spent decades in the trade.
Finally, before you write your first book, you should purchase, “The Elements of Style” by Strunk and White. This is the gospel of good writing. It only takes an hour to read and contains about 100 one-liners that will open your mind and dramatically improve the quality of your writing.
The most important quality that you need for success as a writer, after genuine writing ability on a subject that is of interest to a large number of people, is persistence. You must be prepared to write and write and write and write, and write and write and write.
If you persist long enough and hard enough, you will eventually become a published author, and you may become one of the great writers of your generation.
Good luck!